Drones are not allowed in National Parks or Wildlife Refuges. The rules are not so cut and dry in Oregon’s state parks, however.
If you have an opinion about where and when drones should be allowed in state parks or on beaches, the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department wants your input as it fine-tunes its policies.
The Oregon legislature passed a bill five years ago directing the agency to make rules regarding drones. Parks managers began making maps for each park, but then realized the process would take too long.
Robert Ellison, a policy advisor with Oregon Parks and Recreation, told KLCC the intent now is an “adaptive” policy.
“We recognize that having really firm standards on whether something's going to be a drone operation area or not, that's set in stone, isn't going to be super effective,” he said. “Because on any given day, any one of our parks might change based off of weather conditions, based off of the natural resources, wildlife, visitation.”
Ellison said the designated takeoff and landing zones will likely be released on a rolling basis, and may change over time.
The draft rules state that the department may require drone users to buy a pass. Ellison said the fee would be nominal, and that the pass would allow ORPD to limit the number of drones in a given area, if necessary, as well as ensure drone operators review the rules before heading out.
The public can submit feedback to the draft rules through Feb. 15, and an online hearing is set for Jan. 20 at 5 p.m.
ORPD will review the plan after the public comment period ends. Ellison said the goal is to identify a few sites and open some drone operation areas before summer.
